Most Clicked SIFMA SmartBrief Stories

SIFMA released a white paper on Monday that shows the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority already "thoroughly" regulate brokers. The white paper by law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius also asserts that the White House didn't adequately consider the effectiveness of current rules when it proposed subjecting brokers who offer retirement savings advice to a fiduciary standard. "The [White House Council of Economic Advisers] memorandum really omitted and incorrectly portrayed the regulatory framework as it exists today and has existed, as Morgan Lewis points out, for really 100 years," SIFMA President and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen Jr. said. Read SIFMA's media release.Read the white paper.Bloomberg (03/23) InsuranceNewsNet online (03/23) InvestmentNews (free registration) (03/23)

Janet Yellen, head of the Federal Reserve, warned that several studies suggest the U.S. and other countries will grow more slowly than in the past due to declining technological innovation and demographic forces. "At an extreme, such developments could even amount to a type of 'secular stagnation,' in which monetary policy would need to keep real interest rates persistently quite low relative to historical norms to promote full employment and price stability, absent a highly expansive fiscal policy," she said. CNBC (03/29)

The Securities and Exchange Commission should better coordinate with the Department of Labor on a fiduciary standard for financial professionals who provide retirement advice, Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee told Mary Jo White, head of the SEC. The Labor Department and the SEC are separate agencies and must approach rule writing accordingly, White told the committee. InvestmentNews (free registration) (03/24) ThinkAdvisor (03/24) Hill, The (03/24)

SIFMA's Asset Management Group and the Investment Adviser Association are encouraging the Financial Stability Oversight Council against designating money managers and their funds as systemically important financial institutions. "It is imperative that policymakers recognize that the business structure of an asset manager and the funds they manage is fundamentally different from a commercial bank, does not present systemic risk, and as such should not be subject to SIFI designation," Timothy Cameron, managing director and head of SIFMA's AMG, and IAA President and CEO Karen Barr wrote in a letter. The groups are urging FSOC to defer to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Read SIFMA's news release. Read the comment letter.Pensions & Investments (free access for SmartBrief readers) (03/25)

The Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association recently released a report claiming that the advertising and marketing materials of nine major brokerages often imply they put clients' interests ahead of their own. However, they often claim during arbitration that they are not subject to a fiduciary standard. PIABA's conclusions are flawed, according to broker advocates. "It's curious why PIABA would see something nefarious in how brokers defend themselves in arbitration," said Kevin Carroll, associate general counsel for SIFMA. WealthManagement.com (U.S.) (03/25)

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